Framing the Immigrant Movement as about Rights, Family, or Economics: Which Appeals Resonate and for Whom?

This presentation examines the principal narratives employed by the immigrant rights movements in the United States, how these resonate with different sector of the public, and the challenge posed by the fact that narrative frameworks that appeal to some groups—for example, liberals or conservatives—often alienate others.

Irene Bloemraad is an associate professor of sociology and Thomas Garden Barnes Chair of Canadian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada (2006).